Using shredded leaf mulch PLUS compost over Winter?

Would there be any advantage to covering the shredded leaves I use as mulch (2-3 inch layer) in my garden beds over the winter with a layer of my homemade compost ? I've read that a layer of compost will attract worms to break the leaves down faster by Spring. . . but then, it IS winter and are all self-respecting worms in Florida? Should I just wait until Spring to add the layer of compost? I'm in zone 7a.
I know; it sounds like a dumb question but I just wondered. . .

CapeCodGardener - are your beds empty? If so, then by all means add as much mulch and compost as you like. If they contain plants, then a dressing of either (or a mix of both) would be good for them - roughly two or so inches. It takes time for these items to break down, especially in cold weather, and having them in place will give the earthworms an opportunity to do their "thing", plus when spring arrives, you won't have to find the time to do it then. Spring is always such a busy time in the garden.

Where to earthworms go in winter? I guess Florida is as good a place as any - although I lived there for over 30 years and couldn't wait to leave!!!!

Thank you, Honeybee. You have answered my question so well! My beds are made up of a combination of perennials, shrubs, with some small open areas where I stuff annuals in when summer comes. This Fall I'm going to add those chopped leaves and top them with a layer of homemade compost and let Winter come! Maybe the worms will think of it as a warm blanket.
Thanks for your help!

CapeCodGardner -

Actually, when the weather is really cold the worms dive pretty deep into the soil, far from a top layer of mulch. If I were in Ma in Dec I'd just wait till early spring until the weather is more comfortable for me.

If I could I'd just hibernate through every winter. I hate to be cold. I picked up my 5 gallons of coffee grounds from the coffee shop today but they're still sitting in my garage. I told the lady at the coffee shop I'd continue to collect grounds for a few weeks, then stop till we start to have signs of a spring thaw.

It's 30 degrees here, supposed to be 22 tonight. Someone please pass me a warm blanket and hot coffee.

Karen

Karen, I am a former life-long Californian who has lived in MA for only four years and is still astonished to go outside in December and feel how cold it is! You'd think I'd be used to the chill by now. . . but no. Guess that's the nature of seasons. We never really had them where I lived on the Central Coast of California.
Anyway, I appreciate your comments about the possibility of waiting till early Spring to shovel my compost onto the shredded leaves in my beds. I do hope my beloved earthworms are diving down deep into the soil as it gets colder and colder. I read that some species live 4-8 years, so they must know what they're doing!
Anyway, stay warm.

CapeCod: I was thinking the same thing yesterday. I've lived in cold winter areas all my life. I was born in Pittsburgh and lived there until I was 25. I moved to Cincinnati then and have been here for a little over 30 years. I should know winter. But every year when we get our first cold day, I swear I've never been so cold in my life!

Re: worms: I have clay soil which holds water well. In spring and fall, when the soil is wet, my worms are everywhere. I can't stick a trowel into the dirt without hitting a worm. Once summer arrives with it's heat and the upper soil bakes dry and hard, those worms go deep for more moderate temps and moisture. The only reminder of them is a vast network of big fat tunnels which remains. Depending on how hot and dry it is, I might have to dig down 8 or 10 inches before I see an actual worm. Once temps start moderating in fall and the rains return, the worms are back at the surface.

I see the same thing in my compost. All summer I actively manage the compost and it gets hot (150 degrees) and stays up there. When it starts to cool I flip it and feed it and it heats again. I see few if any worms in it then. In winter it mostly sits undisturbed, I only add coffee grounds from the coffee shop and leaves to the top and run back into the warm house. The compost stays cold. In spring, it's full of worms.

Karen

CapeCod...It was -34F last night and as you can imagine there are no indigenous earthworms in my garden. I do have four indoor compost bins which I raise red wigglers, many of which are transferred to the outdoor horse manure/leaf compost bins in early spring. This worm culture was actually collected from a leaf pile some 40 years ago and they do well outside in the gardening season. Unfortunately very few survive the winters here even in the deeper compost bins. Keeping them overwinter in a basement or insulated garage as I do provides me with an unlimited supply in the spring and vermicomposting is an easy way to get ride of peelings, egg shells, and coffee grounds which ultimately I convert to germination and potting mixes.
The picture is the worm compost bins with the tools I use to collect about 1/4th inch of dried spent media (worm casings) from the top of each bin twice a week before feeding the worms. If interested, I would sent you a copy of my unorthidox method of raising red wigglers or vermicomposting.

morgan

CapeCod...It was -34F last night and as you can imagine there are no indigenous earthworms in my garden. I do have four indoor compost bins which I raise red wigglers, many of which are transferred to the outdoor horse manure/leaf compost bins in early spring. This worm culture was actually collected from a leaf pile some 40 years ago and they do well outside in the gardening season. Unfortunately very few survive the winters here even in the deeper compost bins. Keeping them overwinter in a basement or insulated garage as I do provides me with an unlimited supply in the spring and vermicomposting is an easy way to get ride of peelings, egg shells, and coffee grounds which ultimately I convert to germination and potting mixes.
The picture is the worm compost bins with the tools I use to collect about 1/4th inch of dried spent media (worm casings) from the top of each bin twice a week before feeding the worms. If interested, I would send you a copy of my unorthodox method of raising red wigglers or vermicomposting.

morgan

Mraider, did you day "MINUS 34! Yikes! I can see why you would want to protect your worms over the winter!

I act like I'm dying when it gets down to 20 above in Ohio.

Karen

Was minus 5 degrees when I woke up this morning here in the wilds of S.E. WA. State. My garden beds all have a shredded leaf mulch topped with a layer of manure and straw. Come Spring, when I rake off the remaining mulch, the worms show up in droves!

Capecodgardener, I think there are so many good reasons to cover the beds with leaf mulch and compost in the fall. When I moved here 4 years ago, there wasn't a worm to be found anywhere. Now, you don't even have to dig to find them.

The leaf mold and compost layer will help to keep your bulbs and plants from heaving. It will also help prevent soil erosion from the winter winds. We don't get much snow cover, so those layers help keep the soil underneath moist.

The texture of the soil in my dryest best used to have the consistancy and texture of dry builder's sand. After 3 years of top dressings in the fall, it will now clump together when squeezed. The extra time that the fall dressing gives to the decomposition of those items is invaluable.

We get constant freezes and thaws all winter. With every rain, the nutrients from the leaf mold and compost seep down into the soil and nourish those plants whose roots are not dormant. The plants break dormancy weeks before we see their shoots above ground. A fall dressing will ensure that the nutrients are available to them before we get around to our "spring" chores.

Stormyla, thanks for the detailed advice. What you say about the constant freezes and thaws encouraging compost break-down makes sense to me. I am continuing to spread my ground-up oak leaves onto my beds, and then scattering compost on top--and just today I heard about gathering salt hay from the nearby marsh, then rinsing it (somehow; I'll figure this out) before spreading it on top of the leaves.

Stormyla - I end up clearing a lot of leaves off of the beds in the spring and see all of those sprouts emerging. Always feel guilty about exposing them to the chilly spring weather. Do you do anything special for them or just let them acclimate on their own?

Cindy, I just let nature take it's course. The strong, and even a lot of the weak survive.

Yeah but I do feel guilty about the sudden exposure.

Calling attentnion to the gathering of salt hay. That is a good way to build up salts you do not need or want in your beds. If it is dead top leaves they are salt soaked and can hardly be washed clean. I'd pass on that. I tried in Va. while living on the shore and found way to much salt that I could not wash or leach out of surf plants and backwater hay or grasses. I could find other "stuff" that was far more safe.

Thanks, Docgipe. I was about to go down to the marsh to try to collect some old dead salt hay that had washed up on the banks. Didn't want to adversely affect the marsh ecology, but thought that removing a few armfuls would be OK. But if it's just too salty to use, I'll pass on it.

I doubt that collecting dead marsh grasses for gardening would hurt the marsh but it may be to salty. If everyone was gardening and gathering likewise there would be a problem sooner or later. Slow as it may seem that grass needs to go back into the soil it grew from where it becomes the natural fertilizer and organic ballance in the swamps.

This relates to one bike going over a sand dune. One bike no problem, ten bikes a day begins a new breakdown in the health and stability of the dune. The same is true of wild horses and other wild animals when they overpopulate an area.

I agree with you about the cumulative effect of changing the balance of nature on the eco-biology, docgipe! And you're right that the "old dead salt hay" was meant to remain and provide compost to the marsh. I think I'll just leave it where it lies!
Fortunately I have other sources to make nutritious compost for my garden; namely bags of my neighbors' extra leaves, my own garden clippings, and our leftover food scraps!